Biggies of the business world are often addressed as first-to-mind brands, customers’ favorites, and always trusted; essentially those who’ve turned the market upside-down.

However, can we credit startups with this stature already? (entrepreneurs, my eyes on you)

Well, not yet. ‘Because startups don’t have it in them’ — this is what consumers actually convey when they relate a brand and a startup in a single statement.

But, what’s the reason brands enjoy a have-it-all attitude, while startups try to be seen in crowd.

The reason for brands: greater bandwidth to deploy tools/resources where cost is no worry.

The reason for startups: variety of tools/resources to deploy but cost is the worry.

There’s a suite of automation tools and resources out there which are seldom acknowledged, but they considerably fuel the growth of a business.

Here, we are talking about IVR aka Interactive Voice Response — one of the requisite tools to keep a business’ first-till-the-last customer interactions on track.

With never-ending tracking and recording capability, IVR helps a business stay up for it callers — prospects/customers who are likely to call at any time of the day — while the teams are sleeping, travelling, or enjoying a vacation.

But why IVR?

First things first. If you aspire your startup to get recognized and be taken seriously every time callers call, you ought to have an IVR. Here’s why one shouldn’t have second thoughts for having an IVR — the advantages:

• Start with a warm welcome: A welcome greeting, designed as per the KISS principle (keep it short and simple), contributes in brand recall for callers. You may agree, the first interaction is a major influencer in final decision-making, for both short and long-term. Thus, it’s imperative you greet right greetings to callers the right way.

   

• Address callers’ real needs: A telephonic system which lets callers input their real need-of-the-hour helps them feel a sense of relief. Here, figuring out the callers’ needs before they even start narrating proves a turnaround for businesses. This psychology caters to satisfying callers that they have called the right place and they will be heard.

   

• Be the best SPOC: Accurate routing to the right person can save you and your team from ad hoc role-playing and prove the best SPOC (single point of contact). How? Basis the inputs made by callers, an IVR ensures that call for sales is not hopping within other departments. Henceforth, Samuel, the tech geek, is not striving to crack deals over the sales calls he sometimes receives.

   

• Keep efforts on track: 24*7 tracking and recording of all incoming and outgoing calls ensures perfection in all call based communication activities. Whether it’s the first call or closing call, IVR ensures timeliness, contextual talks, confident follow ups, and a balanced pipeline.

   

• Save calls, time and business: An IVR accompanied by a call managerial tool brings startup communication at fingertips. It streamlines entire call activities, reports you about missed calls, and analyzes on-call performance no matter you’re a small team or growing.

So, is that all?

Absolutely not. Startups belong to the active breed. They seek more out of less. They are the growth hacker type who talk ideas, data, and work towards making best use of them. Here’re the byproducts that startups leverage with an IVR — the add-ons:

• Gather callers’ data: Collecting callers’ information was never this easy. A repository of your callers’ contact info available at your disposal helps you manage contacts easily.

   

• Contact management simplified: Cancel out the nuisance of getting lost between numbers. The simplified contact management lets you maintain and find data as you wish.

   

• History of recordings: Maintain a bank of customer interaction recordings effortlessly. The recordings let you find communication loopholes, improve on quality, and find solid proofing required under any circumstance.

   

• Cut down operational cost: Replace a traditional (human) receptionist with IVR aka virtual receptionist. The IVR costs you as less as 1/16th of the monthly compensation your receptionist charges from you. Example. Traditional receptionist ~INR 25000 v/s INR ~1500/-.

   

• Grow as you scale: Don’t let a fluctuating call volume affect your business. An IVR paired with a virtual number makes you attend any call volume without abandoning any customer calls.

When we talk growth, there are certain inevitable attributes which make a business build its foundation, stand strong as a company, and then steadily move towards brand creation.

However, the reality is, these inevitable attributes are not always wallet-friendly.

Thank goodness that with an IVR, the investment costs are relatively lower and the ROI derived is substantially greater.

PS: If you’re a startup looking out for IVR solutions, MyOperator for Startups gives free IVR to early-stage startups. To know more, visit MyOperator for Startups and get up and running.